Gabe Hein breaks single-game scoring mark in 93-69 Blooming Prairie win over Lyle/Pacelli Monday evening

In a game your heard on AM 1480 KAUS, it was a packed house at All Saints Arena at Pacelli Catholic Schools in Austin Monday evening as the Lyle/Pacelli Athletics boys basketball team played host to the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms in a non-conference tilt, and it was Blossoms guard/forward Gabe Hein exploding for 49 points to set the school record for most points scored in one game in a 93-69 Blossoms win.

Each team made runs at the other in the first half, with Blooming Prairie jumping out to an 8-0 lead, only to see LP fire back with a 12-2 run of their own to take a 12-10 lead with 13:07 left.  The Blossoms worked their way back in front by eight points at 18-10, but again, the Athletics rallied, mostly on the strength of seven 3-point field goals in the half to take what wound up being their biggest lead of the game at four points at 22-18.  After a timeout, Blooming Prairie regrouped, and led by Hein, who scored 27 of his 49 points in the first half, and Zach Hein, who scored 16 of his 27 points in the opening half, the Blossoms ripped off a 21-5 run to take a 39-27 lead, and the first half ended with the Blossoms in front, 48-34.  The Athletics were able to trim the lead to 12 on two different occasions in the second half, the last being 53-41, but they would get no closer as the Blossoms were able to push their lead to as large as 24 points on the way to the win.

Besides Gabe Hein’s record performance of 49 points and Zach Hein’s 27 points, Cooper Cooke added seven points for Blooming Prairie, Brady Kittleson threw down a pair of dunks and added a free throw for five points,  Gabe Staloch chipped in three points, and Jacob Pauly added two points.  For Lyle/Pacelli, the Athletics were led by guard Landon Meyer who drilled five 3-pointers on his way to 28 points, Marshall Burma drained three 3’s on his way to 11 points, Dylan Christianson also tallied 11 points, Andrew Frederick and Isaac Nelsen each scored six points apiece, Chase Bauer added four points, and Leland Hicks swished a 3-pointer in the first half for three points.

Blooming Prairie starts out the 2023-2024 season at 1-0, and the Blossoms return to action Friday night at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown in the Gopher Conference, with varsity tip-off in Waterville at 7:15 p.m. that evening.  With the loss, Lyle/Pacelli is now 1-1 overall on the young season, and the Athletics are right back into action tonight (Tuesday) at Mabel-Canton in the Southeast Conference, with tip-off at 7:15 p.m.